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Tejaswini Sawant
The Lok Sabha on Monday,
the 9th August 2010 .congratulated Tejaswini Sawant for winning the gold medal in 50 metre rifle event at the World Shooting
Championship in Munich, the first Indian woman to do so. "Tejaswini Sawant has created history by becoming the first Indian woman
to achieve this feat which incidentally equals the world record set earlier," Lok Sabha SpeakerMeira Kumar said amid thumping of desks.
She congratulated Sawant and wished her success in all her future endeavors.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pratibha Patil showered praise on her
The 29-year-old
Tejaswini, the Kolhapur's pride became the first Indian woman shooter to win a gold at the World
Championships with a world-record equalling score in the 50m rifle prone event.
Tejaswini scored 597 out of 600 points in the 50-metre rifle prone event, clinching gold and equalling the world record set by Russian Marina Bobkova in 1998.
Her father Ravindra Sawant was a retired Indian Navy electrical engineer passed away in February
due to a liver-related ailment and prolonged illness. Her mother Sunita, who played cricket and volleyball during her college days, said
she would have been glad if her husband was alive. Tejaswini has two younger sisters - Anuradha and Vijaymala - both married.
Tejaswini decided at 13 that she was going to shoot and began practising at a small shooting range in Dudhali area with minimum facilities.
Her parents did not hesitate to raise loans to support her. Even then,
funds fell short and Tejaswini and her late father Ravindra knocked at
every door to put together money to buy a rifle in 2001. She has the talent to become a world champion.
'Teju participated in NCC camps and took an instant liking to rifles. She expressed her desire to make a career out of
shooting and we decided to train her in the sport,' her mother Sunita said.
'Initially she trained from Jaisingh Kusale, a master shooter, who had
trained in the US. This gave her a strong foundation. Although Kusaleji
is no more, Teju still remembers him,' Sunita added.
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Tejaswini
Sawant achievements
Tejaswini Sawant has bagged a total of 75 medals, out of which 25 have come at the
international level. 'We particularly remember the national championship
that took place in Guwahati, Assam in 2007. Tejaswini had won six gold
medals in various individual and team events. Maharashtra had won 26
medals in that event, six of which were bagged only by Teju,' said
her proud mother. She has worked hard and struggled a lot to work her way to the top. She
has done Kolhapur proud,' said Sunita, Tejaswini's mother.
At the 9th SAF Games in Islamabad in 2004, her efforts got India the gold. Then, she won the individual silver and
helped the team win the gold at the 1st Asian air-gun championship in
Bangkok in 2005 that put her among the top 15. Since then she has never looked back.
"We know Tejaswini will bring the Olympic gold. Stars are not born
only in big cities. Small towns and rural areas have immense talent that
need spotting and nurturing, " said her trainer Ajit Patil.
Tejaswini Sawant parents
lived in rented house till 2006, shifting often. But when Tejaswini struck gold in the 10-metre air rifle singles and 10-metre air
rifle pairs at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, the state
government recognised her talent and allotted a plot of more than 5,000
sq ft on which they constructed a bungalow. Tejaswini was also appointed in the district sports department at
Kolhapur in 2008. 'She has now become an Officer on Special Duty (OSD)
in Pune and we are all very proud of her,' said Rajendra Ghagde, district sports officer of Kolhapur.
'Although she has become an OSD now, she still coaches little children
like a teacher. There is no trace of arrogance in her. She is the same
hardworking, sports loving girl who grew up in this town which has 18
Arjuna Award winners and many national level sportsmen,' Ghagde added.
Her mother would like to hear wedding bells ring for the 29-year-old."Both her sisters are married," said the mother. But
her mother also feels her illustrious daughter has many targets to achieve.
Video
Tejaswini
Sawant
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